BUSINESS TRAVEL TRENDS – SEARCH FOR SATISFACTION

Business travelers demand more and more measures for professional-personalized offers, which has forced 37% of travel managers to improve and increase their planning, according to a research study released by American Express Global Business Travel and ACTE Global (Association of Corporate Travel Executives).

The study, titled ‘Balancing Business Travel Tools & Policy for the Traveler Experience’ reveals that quality of life and autonomy during business travel are elements increasingly valued by travelers, which may translate into “real cost-saving opportunities.”

According to this research, 32% of travel managers saw an increase in requests for accommodation in chain hotels during recent months, while 22% say more requests for shared accommodation options with other colleagues have increased.

On the other hand, 61% of the managers surveyed state that their travelers request improvement on technological tools directed to managing their business travels. In fact, 38% think that travel programs are “very limited” in terms of options and offers, while 20% considers that access to multiple booking methods can improve these programs.

Safety Remains a Priority

Nearly half (46%) of travel managers say that they’ve seen an increase in enquiries about personal safety, although it remains below the 65% registered in 2016. Despite the fact that concern for personal safety seems to be gradually losing some of its impact, the figures “remain significant,” according to this report.

In terms of innovation and technological changes, a little more than a third of the research participants (36%) state that they are planning to update their technology.

In this sense, the younger companies and organizations are leading the changes in the business travel program when it comes to addressing the modern expectations of the new business traveler, and 83% have mobile ‘apps’ to give travelers information about their trip.

“The fact is, travel managers cannot afford to let their programs stagnate. Personalized travel policies have become an important recruitment and retention tool for the companies,” said Greeley Koch, chief executive officer of ACTE.

Although Koch has explained that “traveler centricity doesn’t mean travelers can do whatever they want or that travel policies will become so flexible that they become detrimental to the compliance with the program.”